


Wrapping Things Up

by River_Nix



Series: Red Marking [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Mafia AU, Assassin Ric Grayson, Character Death, Crime Boss Jason Todd, Dick and Ric Grayson are twins, Good Friend Koriand'r, Good Friend Roy Harper, Jason Todd is Red Hood, M/M, Multi, Ric Grayson is a Talon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:26:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29448495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/River_Nix/pseuds/River_Nix
Summary: By the end of the evening, Talon wouldn’t have anywhere to hide.At least, that’s what Jason had arranged for, anyway.It was really up to Roy to see his hope come through.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Ric Grayson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Ric Grayson, Koriand'r & Jason Todd, Rich Grayson/Jason Todd, Roy Harper & Jason Todd, Roy Harper & Koriand'r & Jason Todd
Series: Red Marking [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113110
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	Wrapping Things Up

_ “Interesting…” Jason nodded his satisfaction as he looked over Roy’s pinned map. Various colored pins and marked points decorated its surface, accompanied by small boxes of text that would be connected to a specific point with an arrow or two. When his lieutenant had told him that Kori had developed a good base for a plan, he didn’t envision using the first draft. After all, that’s not normally how it went. However, that also had to do with other gangs, criminals, or cops that they’ve encountered before. They knew where they needed to start and could feel confident enough to proceed with a mix of planning ahead of improvisation. Thus, going along with something different enough compared to their initial point.  _

_ In this situation, Talon was someone they had yet to see in action. They would be taking risks, no matter what. Only time and some luck would determine whether or not the risk was worth it.  _

_ “As long as Arsenal can keep Talon in view, we’ll be all set.” Kori turned to her colleague, an eyebrow raised in challenge. Their target has proven to be quite the wiggly one by reputation.  _

_ Roy nodded, a small laugh pulling itself from his chest. “Not a problem.” He stroked a finger along the handle of his bow, ignoring how Jason eyed the motion with amused eyes. Surrounded by individuals who used more mechanical types of firearms, a bow-and-arrow seemed so harmless.  _

_ Hah! If only they knew. _

_ “I expect good things from this meeting. Arsenal. Starfire.”Jason nodded to his two most trusted as they straightened up. The use of formal names gave away the transition from friends to co-workers, a gathering to a gang-related plan. “Don’t bother writing the report. I want to hear it from you directly.”  _

**_∾∾∾∾∾∾∾∾∾∾∾∾_ **

“Apologies for the delay.” Roy knew he looked way too comfortable as he walked past Talon and towards the table situated in the center of the room. The amount of effort he put into pulling it off was surprisingly small, though he supposed that he didn’t have too much reason to remain tense as he sat down. He had plenty of time on the ride here to steel his nerves and this wouldn’t be the first (or last) time he had attended a meeting meant for more than collecting their payment. Typically, though, that translated to an execution. Talon would be a very special case, if that wasn’t too obvious already. “We ran into some trouble. I hope you understand that taking care of that took priority.” 

Talon made no move to sit down, not that Roy could bring himself to be too upset. It would be easier if he was standing. “Nothing too bad, I hope.” Oddly enough, the smallest hint of a rumble made itself known in Talon’s voice. Was that amusement making its way out? It was hardly what ‘concern’ could ever sound like. Perhaps, curiosity? Or Roy’s ears could have been playing tricks on him, probably due to how fast his heart was beating. He couldn’t tell whether it was excitement at being in the field or his nerves creeping back up on him. Along the adrenaline was always some sort of unease that came with thinking about all of the ways that a plan could go wrong. He was here and, while moments ago he felt fine, it was finally beginning. 

Who knew such changes could take little more than a few seconds to take place? 

“Nah, it was easy to dispose of.” Roy waved his hand, leaning back into his chair and kicking his feet up onto the table. It not only painted the picture of overconfident and too calm - therefore, possibly insulting Talon - but it was also something that Roy knew others hated watching. That could have connected back to his first two reasons for doing it, but details like that could be ignored. Either way, he was trying to see if his actions caused Talon any sort of distress or frustration. If he could rile the other up, then pulling him further into the hidden trap would be a lot smoother. “It’s part of why Red Hood isn’t here. You see, we ran into some...rats...who wanted to interfere with this little exchange. And Big Red has always been a fan of being the one to get any information out, ya know?” 

The mask didn’t help at all with Roy’s attempts at reading Talon, so he tried to be subtle as he scanned the other’s form for body language. It was skin-tight, so it wasn’t like he’d miss anything. Unfortunately, Talon didn’t seem to stir; neither under Roy’s act nor his made-up story. It was easy to come to the conclusion that he really didn’t care about anything that the lieutenant had said, though Roy didn’t want to believe the first thing that came to mind. More likely, Talon had some thoughts but chose to keep them to himself. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that many, if not all, of his reactions had been trained out of him so that he didn’t accidentally reveal anything to the enemy when he pushed through his missions. Again, it made pulling him into their trap a bit more difficult, but it wasn’t like Roy hadn’t been prepped on what to do in that situation. He’d have to be the first to strike, which would either go really well or really terrible, but it was guaranteed to get Talong acting. 

“I hope he acquires his desired information.” Talon was quick to nod his approval(?) / understanding(?) as he approached. He kept his arms at his sides, both clenched into tight fists. Roy hoped that he didn’t have any hidden poisons or weapons in those, he really wanted to be conscious of the action. Or, more like, he needed to be conscious of the action since he was certain that he had just the tool to knock Talon off of his balance. Ok...sure, he was the one who hoped that Talon would make the first move, but being close to the desk (and Roy by default) wasn’t the ideal location. 

Luckily for Roy, Talon stopped just short of the opposite side of the desk. One of his clenched fists placed itself onto the surface of the table, oddly gentle for how much it looked like it wanted to sock Roy across the jaw. Or, was he just being paranoid at this point? 

“I hope that I’ve collected everything required on my part as well.” Talon was slow in pulling his hand back, revealing the flash drive that he had just released. As he stepped back, Roy motioned for one of his guards (more like back up) to bring the device to him. Standard procedure, of course. Because seriously, who just walked around the table (which never exceeded 6ft) to pick something up and make their way back? Roy would roll his eyes if he wasn’t trying to stay in character for a bit longer. In reality, he knew that people - specifically crime bosses - didn’t have the hired help do simple tasks because they were lazy. Lord knows how many dangerous missions Jason had insisted that he go on instead of staying in the safe confines of their home base. No, it was more of an act of caution. You didn’t want to get too close to your trade buddy too often. One could never know when they’d find themselves stabbed in the back (metaphorically and physically) before the goods were out of the window. 

“I’m sure you have.” There were - like, dead serious - reports that Jason needed in Penguin’s absence. Since Talon had already admitted to killing him, it was only a matter of learning when that kill happened that dictated the starting date. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far along the line that any business would be ruined, but there was no harm in making sure everything was completely there when they checked. If push came to shove, then Roy hoped that there were more files saved. Recovering deleted files were a nightmare and, if Talon was in the position that Jason wanted, then it would fall onto him and Kori to get to work. 

Roy loved being someone that Jason trusted so much. Really, he did. He just hated some of the technological aspects of the job since he was more of a hands-on type of person. He liked being on the field, not cooped up in a computer room while screens glared at you and crashed programs judged you. 

“Before we give you the agreed payment, there’s something that Red Hood wanted me to discuss with you.” Now,  _ that  _ had Talon reacting in a way that benefited Roy. It was such a small detail and one that he wouldn’t have caught if he hadn’t spent the hour prior to arriving at the meeting location being aggressively reminded (by both Kori and Jason) that he needed to be keeping eyes out. Assassins like Talons either didn’t react in the ways you’d expect or hid them so well that even shadows were easier to spot. In this case, Talon was a bit lax in catching the way that his body turned away just the slightest bit before he righted himself. 

Roy wasn’t able to immediately come up with an idea as to why Talon that he had done that. Part of him wanted to assume that the assassin was preparing to leave before Roy’s next words caught him off guard. Though, if he put more thought into that, such a thing didn’t make sense. He’d want to make sure that his payment went successfully, right? Of course, Roy didn’t actually plan to do that - but as long as Talon didn’t know that, then the logic still applied! Also, he looked completely unmoved as Roy was having the flash drive brought to him. The movement only started when Roy’s words hinted at the possibility that Talon would be staying for longer than originally planned. 

Was he looking into this too much? Probably. But it was what Jason and Kori wanted him to do, so he was going to go along with it. 

“And that would be?” 

_ Gotcha.  _ Roy could smirk. Unlike Jason’s mask, Talon had no voice modulator. Or, at least, not one that altered his voice to sound more robotic. Even if the pitches had been tampered with to make him sound deeper or richer than it was compared to his real voice, it was more difficult to hide things like hitches or undertones. And, in that question, Roy was picking up some serious aggression. Talon nearly growled at him when he spoke and the way that he adjusted his stance only supported Roy’s theory that he was getting uncomfortable. Why he let himself go (in terms of exposing his reactions) was still unknown. It could only be assumed that he’s heard these words before and the ending wasn’t good, leading to Talon getting defensive when he was forced to stay in a place that he knew he wasn’t 100% safe in. 

“You see, we’ve been doing our research on you ever since we heard about you.” Roy removed his feet so that he could lean forward, hands and elbows resting on the table. He made sure that Talon had no reason to doubt that he was being scrutinized. There was less judgment behind the stare though and more expectancy - because, at this point, Roy knew that he was walking on thin ice. It was perfect for leading them all into the next step. “It took quite a bit of digging, but something that’s caught Red Hood’s eye is your history of being a loner.” 

Part of that was a lie, part of it was the truth. They did look into Talon and anything information that could tell them anything about the assassin. It had to be through hacking into other known crime lords around the world and reading thousands of reports that had been picked out through their mention of  _ Assassination _ and  _ Talon _ since the actual assassin didn’t keep his achievements in a known platform. The lie part of the explanation was how they determined Talon to be a loner. With that one, it was a mix of guessing and noting that nobody had ever been written to work with Talon. Heck, there were missions that required Talon to travel to other parts of the world to get to a target and he was written to “insist on going along”. 

It was almost unbelievable. Then again, Roy was used to being part of a group. So, perhaps he was being a bit biased? He had yet to know what it felt like to be forced to do everything yourself, with absolutely no help from anyone or anything. Maybe it was easier? He didn’t know, but he didn’t plan on quitting Red Hood’s gang anytime soon just so he could find out. 

“He was wondering if you’d like some company?” Roy raised a brow at Talon, trying to keep the giddiness rising in his chest out of his voice. The climax of the evening was approaching and while he certainly had more control than to just start giggling as he hopped up and down, it was still difficult to keep a smile off of his face. The adrenaline that had been rushing through his veins this entire time seemed to still in anticipation. His next words would either set Talon off or set himself off. “Your skills are quite...impressive. It would be nice to have them incorporated into our own little group. What do you say?” 

Roy already had a feeling that Talon would say no. One didn’t go this many years with working alone solely on the fact that no one had ever petitioned him. If Roy had to guess, he’s probably gotten plenty of offers and either moved away or killed some extras over the disagreement that followed his refusal. Hopefully, their plan would keep them from being next on that list. 

Talon, for his part, didn’t jump Roy. Not that he really expected the other to go that far, but it was obvious that he was getting ready to bolt. Talon’s arms were nearly twitching as he tried to keep control and the way that his words came out was most definitely due to him gritting his teeth: “I’m afraid that I have to decline.” He took another step back, the atmosphere of the room completely changing. Roy could sense it, had gotten used to the transition ever since Jason had allowed him to start attending these types of meetings with him. 

It was no longer chilly with Gotham’s naturally cool air flowing through the building. 

It was no longer still with the simple task of coming in and getting out. 

It was no longer calm with the knowledge that this would just be another mission that Talon wouldn’t have to care about if he were allowed to leave so easily. 

Now, the room was becoming warmer. Almost hot. Roy could feel the buzz reach everyone in the room and knew that it was only a matter of seconds before someone imploded from the sheer intensity of it. 

Although, if he was being honest, he envisioned it being himself or Talon starting it all. If he was going by technicality, then it was one of his men that initiated it by making his movements too obvious. His hand went to the handle of his gun - the same gun that most of them had strapped to their thighs for easy access. It was easy to see as it stood, so it was no wonder that Talon saw the threatening motion so easily. 

To Roy’s amusement, the assassin was quick to retaliate. With a blurry swipe of his arm, a dagger had found itself embedded into his attacker’s forehead. After that, all Hell broke loose. Roy only had a few moments to duck under cover as he waited for his own weapon to be given to him before Talon had sent some sort of projectile towards him. He would have preferred to have his bow and trusty arrows on hand when he first entered, but he had figured that it would be an unnecessary show of aggression while he was on his way towards their meetup. It left him waiting for a few moments until he could rush forward, but it hardly bothered him. It just gave him a few moments to observe before he felt the familiar material of his own weapon slide into his hands. 

Talon didn’t waste time. As soon as he registered that there was even a possibility that he wouldn’t be let out without a fight, he answered the unspoken challenge. From what Roy could see, most of his men were able to stand their ground near the door or by any windows that the assassin could easily reach. Some of them had fallen as well, obviously, but casualties were expected. So, it’s not like his men were walking into something blindly. All that mattered was that Talon was still here and still alive, perfect for capture. It could have been the fact that they had guns (armed with rubber bullets so there were no fatal shots) compared to Talon’s need to either throw knives or get close. Or maybe the numbers game really did work against an assassin. Whatever the case may be, Roy was pleased to see that the worst position they were in was a stalemate. 

Pulling out an arrow, he drew his bowstring back as he jumped out of his previous position. He had, what he assumed to be, about two seconds to let the string go and jump back before Talon was answering his call. The arrow itself missed, though Roy could have sworn that he saw a bit of clothing get skimmed. Unfortunate, considering that that specific arrow required a concrete target to fully activate. Not that it needed to wait too long. His men, while good guards, seemed to have some terrible reflexes when it came to speed. All Roy heard was a grunt, some shouts of alarm, and a loud screen before his explosion went off. He didn’t dare look away from Talon, not that he needed to in order to get a clear picture of blood and guts painting whichever surface was too close to the now dead-man. Perhaps he should have waited until Talon wasn’t in a position where he could easily see him before firing that one. 

Checking his quiver, Roy could note (with some relief) that he did have about four more of those shots. He packed them, so he knew how much there should have been, but it was never a bad idea to double-check before heading into battle. Underestimating your enemy was stupid as it was, overestimating yourself was just...Roy didn’t even have words for it. All he knew was that they currently had an active assassin on their hands and he needed to bring the squirly fucker in alive or Jason was going to have his head. Literally and metaphorically, depending on how much of a good mood he was in after watching their fight. 

Looking around, Roy could determine (pretty quickly) that Jason would not be pleased when this was over. It hasn’t even been half an hour into the battle and at least half of the men that he had brought with him are dead. If not dead, then dying a painful death somewhere in the room. Selecting one of his Smoke-Trick arrows, he quickly fired downwards so he could have some cover before darting out of the corner. Now in a better position, he had more mobility to chase his target around and capture him or lead him into a makeshift trap. Well, not that Talon wasn’t already in a trap. Just...not in the tightest of bonds that Roy could get him in. There was still a lot of progress to be made. 

About 15 minutes later and Roy could say that he had achieved his wish. Sure, his quiver was only down to five arrows (two of them his explosive arrows) and he had a few cuts that would need to be nursed as quickly as this ended so they didn’t get infected, but their target was finally being worn down. It hasn’t been much longer than an hour - if it had even reached that time mark - but the battle was still just as bloody and intense as a war. More than 15 armed men against one assassin tended to do that. Talon could dance around all he wanted or jump to whatever platform he could leap at without having to worry about being in the open air for too long. None of it was able to save him from being hit at least once per every five minutes or so of battle. At least, that’s what Roy hoped. He only had about seven more men with him at this moment and they’d need to end this soon - before Talon realized that they wouldn’t be able to chase after him if he decided to leap out of the window. 

Clutching his bow tightly, Roy selected one of his electricity-packed arrows and took aim. At this point, he had no illusion that he’d be able to take Talon on in a head-to-head battle. But he might stand a chance if he was able to stun him for long enough. He had to aim higher than he normally did, afraid that if he was to shoot at Talon’s arm or his waist, he’d jump up or grab the arrow to keep it from hitting its mark. 

_ Make this count.  _ Roy grit his teeth as he watched Talon slice someone down. The guy’s uniform was a mess, but nothing seemed to weigh him down as he launched himself at his next opponent. Not even the barrage of injuries he had to have obtained by now by those bullets. The only good thing about the battle coming to a close was the fact that Talon had run out of throwing knives. How could Roy tell? The fact that he was using whatever projectiles he could get his hands on instead of reaching down to grab seemingly invisible shit from his belt or in his uniform top. 

Once they had him, they’d have to analyze that uniform. It was only within that last five minutes that he had run out of projectiles. Where did he store that stuff? Also, fuck the tiny blades being deadly, Talon had to have coated them in something. Something strong too, most of the guards were well above 150lbs, so they could take some dosage before dropping in any other battle. 

_ Nighty-Night.  _ Roy released the arrow as Talon turned around, the next few seconds playing in slow motion as it connected. It wasn’t the first time he had managed to finally nick the little assassin, but he was hoping for something along the lines of the chest or the collarbone area. He hadn’t anticipated that he’d be aiming just high enough to get the upper half of Talon’s mask.  _ Oh boy… _

Roy let himself wince as the electricity in his arrow was released upon contact, causing the mask on Talon’s face to...react? 

They had never been completely sure what Talon’s mask was made of and, understandably, they didn’t care too much either. Looking back on that decision, maybe that hadn’t been the best idea. The mask obviously wasn’t leather and the only other safe thing that went with an electric arrow was wood. As Talon spasmed for a second before yanking his sparking mask off, it was clear that it wasn’t wood. From the way it continued to spark before full-on exploding into a smoking heap, Roy would wager that his arrow just hit something metal. 

“Holy shit…” Roy tightened the grip he had on his bow in fear that he’d drop it in awe. When he envisioned seeing Talon’s face (at last) he always figured that it would be after the battle. The moment they had him strapped to a medical cot so they could heal any life-threatening injuries before moving onto the next step of Jason’s plan. Here, in the bright lighting of the room (for Kori’s footage), he had come face-to-face with some blazing blue eyes. Or, were they even blue? From his perspective, they could have also been black with how dark in shade they were.

Holding those blue (black?) eyes had to be one of the most gorgeous faces that Roy has ever seen. Of course, he had nothing to compare it to, but still! His jawline was well-defined, cheeks looking nice and smooth to the touch - as perverted as that sounded. The coloring too...was he that creamy looking all over? Someone had some good skincare. His lips, which were curled upwards as Talon scowled, looked full and perfect for nibbling on. They were just the right shade of pink that almost made them look delicate, as weird as that was when considering Talon’s career. His hair wasn’t fully out for show thanks to the hoodie still being somewhat intact, but Roy could make out some black strands. If he squinted, he could swear that the hair bunched up more on one side than it did the other, but he didn’t have too much time to consider that before Talon realized what was happening. 

The “Shit!” that he let out echoed through the room and, sooner than Roy was expected, he made a grab for his blown-up mask. The condition was beyond repairable, if Roy knew his arrows well. Hopefully, that would stop Talon from putting the mask on before he could get Kori a better shot. 

“Stop him!” He rushed forward as Talon started towards one of the walls, likely weighing the windows is a better option than the door. Any of the men still standing attempted to get out of his way, but they were either hopped over or kicked away as Talon got closer. Really, the only thing that Roy could do was fire his second-to-last explosive arrow and hope that it wouldn’t kill Talon. He knew that the shock from the blast range would disorient him at most, but only if it was at least 10 ft away from him. Any closer and more grave injuries could be given. Arming up, Roy took aim and only let go when he was sure that the minimum amount of distance had been reached. It was difficult to judge while Talon was moving while he, himself, was being rushed but Roy hoped that habit/muscle memory would make its way into his shot. 

(Oh, and Kori would lose some of her cameras but it wasn’t like all of the feed wasn’t already saved on a drive anyway!) 

Covering his ears, Roy tilted away as his arrow made contact with the wall. Typically, neither the noise nor the brightness affected him when he was far enough away. Half of him didn’t want to look at what it did to Talon, afraid that he had sent their target into a messy heap on the ground. A few seconds passed before he heard a loud groan and as Roy whipped around to stare, he caught sight of Talon pushing himself onto his hands and knees. His uniform was a lot more ripped than it had previously been, exposing the bruises and puncture wounds that came with facing rubber bullets and giant thug-like men. With any luck, he didn’t lose too much blood and Roy pouncing on him to hold him still for a good camera shot wouldn’t force any out. 

“Get. Off!” Talon’s eyes flashed an odd gold color as he was put on his back, replacing the blue Roy had originally seen. It shocked the lieutenant for a moment, but it was also all he needed to confirm one of Jason’s theories. Talon had to be part of The Court of Owls, there was no way he wasn’t. Roy had seen that golden-eye color before and only when they had been exposed to The Court and other Talons. Plus, it was also kinda a trademark that the eyes of Talons glowed a gold color when...aggravated? He didn’t know how it worked, but they were either able to switch at will or the transition was based on emotion. 

“I don’t want to kill you.” Roy doubted that Talon would believe him and he only had a few moments to do this before he was thrown off or stabbed. As the assassin wiggled harder, arms coming up to try and claw at the archer’s face, Roy took the risk and yanked off Talon’s hood. He only got a few seconds to commit everything - from hairstyle to the full-extent of Talon’s face - before the assassin in question brought his leg up and kicked him off. Despite expecting it to come at some point, it still hurt like a motherfucker when he was launched halfway across the room from that one kick. He let himself groan and cradle his aching stomach, prepared for when he inevitably learned that he now had some bruised ribs. 

Not that it mattered now. Whatever injuries he sustained...however many men had been killed today...none of it mattered. They may have lost Talon, but they had his face now. He was heavily injured, but something told Roy that he wouldn’t just let himself die. Experience had to have taught the other how to get out of these types of tricky situations. Right? And as long as Kori was able to freeze that one shot and zoom in enough, which Roy knew she could, then they had all they needed to find the assassin again. It would only be a matter of time. 

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so, I read somewhere that Richard had blue eyes. But there were too many inconsistencies between them being light blue and dark blue. So I just made Ric have the darker blue eyes (I’m thinking Oxford Blue) while Richard had the lighter ones (Sapphire, maybe). Sound fair? I hope so. 
> 
> Also, sorry if the combat scene is kinda lame. I’ve been trying to write one that sounded more realistic, but it’s difficult to do that when you’re only focusing on one perspective. Please forgive me if it’s terrible!  
> Other than that, here’s my [Tumblr](https://river-nix.tumblr.com/) if anyone wants to message me or find my Ko-Fi info, commissions are still open. Or if anyone wants to donate to support me, anything is appreciated. Thanks, everyone!


End file.
